hey guys,
i recently recieved some pretty negative feedback/criticism from someone on my email list about my journal emails. i currently have 150-odd people on my email list, friends and family from home, and people who i've met travelling who I consider good friends, but i have no idea who this was, because they set up a bogus email address and hurled the abuse at me from there.
this doesn't faze me in the least (its kinda funny actually - especially the lengths they've gone to remain anonymous!), as i've also recieved a fair number of emails from folk saying how much they enjoy my travel tales. but it does bring me to the point where I recognise that maybe not everyone is interested, some may think they're too long, others may not have time to read them. that's fine.
So, i'll say to all of you - if you no longer want to recieve my emails journals, that's fine - email me back, and I'll remove you from my journal list. No hard feelings. This way, two purposes are served - one; my list is trimmed down to those who actually are interested in recieving them, and two; whoever the anonymous abuser is, who obviously doesn't want me to know who they are, can be removed without me knowing absolutely definitively who they are...
To quote someone famous: "speak up now, or forever hold yer peace!!"I look forward to (not) hearing from you ;-)
cheers, tony
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Sunday, June 12, 2005
bollock naked biking on the World Naked Bike Ride
Hi,
June in Vancouver is Bike Month.
There are dozens of events happening over the month, celebrating bike culture, and raising awareness of this as a clean, healthy and environmentally friendly alternative to the car culture our society is so engrossed with.
In conjunction with this, last Saturday, June 11th was the day of the World Naked Bike Ride. In dozens of cities around the world, from London to San Francisco, Melbourne to Madrid, and Vancouver, hundreds of men and women disrobed and went for a casual cruise around their city.
The legendary, and compulsory, bike lift on the bridge - so popular on Critical Mass rides, but even better when naked!!
The point of this? Well, it's a rather novel way of highlighting and protesting against societies' dependency on car culture, and in a metaphorical way, expresses how naked and unprotected cyclists feel in on-road traffic.
....complete with Police Escort!!!
The ride in Vancouver attracted some 80-odd participants, myself included, and probably more than double that in spectators, media, and curious on-lookers. No doubt there was an element of voyeurism in the crowd, but there was nothing overt in that, and no trouble as a result.
This isn't nudity for the sake of it, this ride has a message and a purpose too!
The theme of the ride was 'Bare as you dare' and was a clothing-optional event, meaning that you didn't, if you didn't want to, have to be completely textile free. So, in a Carnivale style atmosphere, many people opted in very skimpy, flesh revealing outfits with flourishes of colour in the form of scarves, artful face masks and clown wigs, leopard-print vests among other items, while many of those who did go naked were body-painted up with bright, colorful designs, or political-social slogans, such as 'Oil Free' or 'Using Less, Living More'. There were elements of vaudeville thrown in, with a naked saxophonist blasting out show tunes, and general merriment all round.
....and Living More!!
The weather, which earlier in the day threatened to spoil the party, was pleasant enough, overcast and mild, with only the last portion of the ride featuring light drizzle. And with the media crews having being satiated with their 'odd-spot-of-the-day' quotient being filled for the evening's bulletin, we were off onto the streets of Vancouver. The riders had gathered at Sunset Beach, and we then started off by taking in the busy cafe and boutique shop-lined streets of Denman, Robson, Granville, then over the Granville Bridge onto 4th Avenue, back over the Burrard Bridge, finally returning, some 90-minutes later at Sunset Beach, swinging by a weeding party having bridal party pics snapped on the sand, giving thema little something extra to tell thier grandkids about!.
...just like "Bike Chik" is doing here.
Needless to say, the reaction we had from the shoppers, cafe-goers, onlookers and pedestrians on the streets was one of surprise, bemusement and laughter, many slightly embarrassed, covering their eyes, but secretly looking through their fingers! The tourists on the double-decker buses got more than they bargained for, a free naked bike-ride show not necessarily on their tour itinerary. Camera shutters were going off left, right and centre. It was great!!
See how happy everybody is!!
All in all, this ride was a major success, with a point being made, and hundreds of people, riders and spectators, having an absolute blast of a time in an open, friendly, and totally non-sexual environment.
Tony
June in Vancouver is Bike Month.
There are dozens of events happening over the month, celebrating bike culture, and raising awareness of this as a clean, healthy and environmentally friendly alternative to the car culture our society is so engrossed with.
In conjunction with this, last Saturday, June 11th was the day of the World Naked Bike Ride. In dozens of cities around the world, from London to San Francisco, Melbourne to Madrid, and Vancouver, hundreds of men and women disrobed and went for a casual cruise around their city.
The legendary, and compulsory, bike lift on the bridge - so popular on Critical Mass rides, but even better when naked!!
The point of this? Well, it's a rather novel way of highlighting and protesting against societies' dependency on car culture, and in a metaphorical way, expresses how naked and unprotected cyclists feel in on-road traffic.
....complete with Police Escort!!!
The ride in Vancouver attracted some 80-odd participants, myself included, and probably more than double that in spectators, media, and curious on-lookers. No doubt there was an element of voyeurism in the crowd, but there was nothing overt in that, and no trouble as a result.
This isn't nudity for the sake of it, this ride has a message and a purpose too!
The theme of the ride was 'Bare as you dare' and was a clothing-optional event, meaning that you didn't, if you didn't want to, have to be completely textile free. So, in a Carnivale style atmosphere, many people opted in very skimpy, flesh revealing outfits with flourishes of colour in the form of scarves, artful face masks and clown wigs, leopard-print vests among other items, while many of those who did go naked were body-painted up with bright, colorful designs, or political-social slogans, such as 'Oil Free' or 'Using Less, Living More'. There were elements of vaudeville thrown in, with a naked saxophonist blasting out show tunes, and general merriment all round.
....and Living More!!
The weather, which earlier in the day threatened to spoil the party, was pleasant enough, overcast and mild, with only the last portion of the ride featuring light drizzle. And with the media crews having being satiated with their 'odd-spot-of-the-day' quotient being filled for the evening's bulletin, we were off onto the streets of Vancouver. The riders had gathered at Sunset Beach, and we then started off by taking in the busy cafe and boutique shop-lined streets of Denman, Robson, Granville, then over the Granville Bridge onto 4th Avenue, back over the Burrard Bridge, finally returning, some 90-minutes later at Sunset Beach, swinging by a weeding party having bridal party pics snapped on the sand, giving thema little something extra to tell thier grandkids about!.
...just like "Bike Chik" is doing here.
Needless to say, the reaction we had from the shoppers, cafe-goers, onlookers and pedestrians on the streets was one of surprise, bemusement and laughter, many slightly embarrassed, covering their eyes, but secretly looking through their fingers! The tourists on the double-decker buses got more than they bargained for, a free naked bike-ride show not necessarily on their tour itinerary. Camera shutters were going off left, right and centre. It was great!!
See how happy everybody is!!
All in all, this ride was a major success, with a point being made, and hundreds of people, riders and spectators, having an absolute blast of a time in an open, friendly, and totally non-sexual environment.
Tony
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
zulu & scratch rekkids - a godsend or the most dangerous place on earth?
Hi there,
the more i live in and learn about vancouver, the more I like it. I already knew it had an amazing community activist vibe, a cool alternative, bohemian cultural scene, and an awesome music sensibility where live music is concerned. Now, in the past few weeks, I have discovered a couple of excellent rekkid stores.
First of all, there's Zulu Records (www.zulurecords.com), on the hip 4th Avenue in Kitsilano. This store not only sells the most interesting array of cdee's, dvd's and vinyl, and doubles as a ticketing outlet for Vancouver's indie music scene, but it also has a cool as feck listening lounge. here you can sit back in comfy lounge chairs set around a funky coffee table, with your headphones on, listening to a potential cdee or vinyl purchase, while reading a book and/or sipping on your coffee bought from the Jitters cafe next door.
Hows that for customer satisfaction! I like it!! So much so that I bought their T-Shirt!! Only 10 bucks!! value plus....
Then there's Scratch Records on Seymour Street in Downtown. For those of you who are familiar with Melbourne, I would rank it as a peer to Au Go Go, Polyester, and Missing Link record stores. It kinda has that punk d.i.y. feel about it, its a place you know you could find that obscure 7" single from that even more obscure band from the back waters of Ontario, and when you asked the staff about it, they would not only know who and what you were talking about, but they'd most likely be wearing that bands t-shirt at the time. Ala early era Au Go Go, this shop also has its own awesome recording label for local indie acts (http://cdn.scratchrecords.com/scratchlabel.cfm) .
It's also in a location that unless you were in the know, or sought it out deliberately, you probably never knew it existed. I sought it out, as i do, and I nearly even walked past it before i noticed the sign hanging over this doorway opening to a hallway, which leads right down to the back of the building. the other giveaway to its location was the blaring Black Flag music that assaults you once you open the front door.
this is on top of the haunt just down the road from me on Commercial Drive that I spotted months ago called Highlife Records. This place is a haven for those into world music and reggae, as well as stocking the usual smattering of local indie releases.
Given my poor attempts at saving moolah at the mo, these discoveries could be rather damaging. I'm doing my darndest to just keep on walking by when i get near these shops, as when i walk in, I invariable end up buying something - either a cdee, gig ticket or some other random paraphernalia.
anyway, i got pretty excited about these and just to let someone (everyone) know.
also, caught up with my mate Sam Perry the other day - he plays bass guitar in Architecture In Helsinki, a Melbourne who made a blink-and-you'll-miss-it, whistle-stop tour thru Vancouver, playing at The Media Club, while on their 5-week American tour....scroll down for a few pics.
cheers,
tony
the more i live in and learn about vancouver, the more I like it. I already knew it had an amazing community activist vibe, a cool alternative, bohemian cultural scene, and an awesome music sensibility where live music is concerned. Now, in the past few weeks, I have discovered a couple of excellent rekkid stores.
First of all, there's Zulu Records (www.zulurecords.com), on the hip 4th Avenue in Kitsilano. This store not only sells the most interesting array of cdee's, dvd's and vinyl, and doubles as a ticketing outlet for Vancouver's indie music scene, but it also has a cool as feck listening lounge. here you can sit back in comfy lounge chairs set around a funky coffee table, with your headphones on, listening to a potential cdee or vinyl purchase, while reading a book and/or sipping on your coffee bought from the Jitters cafe next door.
Hows that for customer satisfaction! I like it!! So much so that I bought their T-Shirt!! Only 10 bucks!! value plus....
Then there's Scratch Records on Seymour Street in Downtown. For those of you who are familiar with Melbourne, I would rank it as a peer to Au Go Go, Polyester, and Missing Link record stores. It kinda has that punk d.i.y. feel about it, its a place you know you could find that obscure 7" single from that even more obscure band from the back waters of Ontario, and when you asked the staff about it, they would not only know who and what you were talking about, but they'd most likely be wearing that bands t-shirt at the time. Ala early era Au Go Go, this shop also has its own awesome recording label for local indie acts (http://cdn.scratchrecords.com/scratchlabel.cfm) .
It's also in a location that unless you were in the know, or sought it out deliberately, you probably never knew it existed. I sought it out, as i do, and I nearly even walked past it before i noticed the sign hanging over this doorway opening to a hallway, which leads right down to the back of the building. the other giveaway to its location was the blaring Black Flag music that assaults you once you open the front door.
this is on top of the haunt just down the road from me on Commercial Drive that I spotted months ago called Highlife Records. This place is a haven for those into world music and reggae, as well as stocking the usual smattering of local indie releases.
Given my poor attempts at saving moolah at the mo, these discoveries could be rather damaging. I'm doing my darndest to just keep on walking by when i get near these shops, as when i walk in, I invariable end up buying something - either a cdee, gig ticket or some other random paraphernalia.
anyway, i got pretty excited about these and just to let someone (everyone) know.
also, caught up with my mate Sam Perry the other day - he plays bass guitar in Architecture In Helsinki, a Melbourne who made a blink-and-you'll-miss-it, whistle-stop tour thru Vancouver, playing at The Media Club, while on their 5-week American tour....scroll down for a few pics.
cheers,
tony
Victorious Volleyball Victorian in Victoria BC
Hey there,
I was in Victoria over the weekend - a nice city, very pretty, but a little on the sleepy side...but that's okay - nice and relaxing. I went over with a bunch of 8 Aussie and Kiwi friends on satdee morn, and after spending satur-day and night with them, i took Sunday arvo by myself, leaving my mates to do their own thing, and came back late Sunday night after spending the arvo with a buddy of mine, Mike, and his wife Kristin, who live there.
Victoria, with a smallish population of only 300,000, is on Vancouver Island and is British Columbia's capital city. Despite being only 100Km's away, it takes about 3 1/2 hours to get there, involving a cumbersome bus, ferry, bus transfer. it's all worth it tho, the ferry ride thru the Gulf Islands being especially pretty. I was hoping to catch a peek of the Orca whale pods that play in these waters this time of year, but alas, we had no luck.
The city itself is famed for being Canada's most 'British' city, with a lot its architecture and streetscapes trying to somewhat recreate an Olde English feel. The Parliament Buildings, built in 1893 by a 25 year old architect, in a Gothic style with the pale grey granite stone block structure with dome-topped turret towers and cuppola-roof, set on immaculately groomed lawn and gardens is most successful in this regard. Its setting right on the foreshore marina just adds an extra element of beauty to the scene.
Just a few minutes walk along the marina, the epic-sized 5-star Empress Hotel, with its groomed hedges and creeping vine covered exterior is another fine example of the refined British syle of this city. At any rate, it makes for a pleasant, quiet and leisurely stroll.
Our group had split up and gone in various directions, and I was hanging with Robbo and Jen as we casually took in the city, before heading off to Beacon Hill Park to throw the frisbee around for a while.
The interior of the park, with its Victorian landscape of manicured flowerbeds, graceful trees and lakes and bridged streams, has a life all its own, as do its local fauna residents, especially it seems the goats. Jen had gone off for a walk and spotted a flock of goats in the park, and came back to us, all excitedly wanting to tell us about these goats who could talk, and said 'yee-aaa-hhhhhh' with cheeky grins all the time. But these talking goats also have mystical invisibility powers too apparently, as we could not see them when she took us to the spot. I've gotta say, I have NO idea what kind of flowers she was sniffing in the park. At the very southern end of the park, there is an open vista over the beach, and across the Strait of Juan De Fuca, leading out to the open waters of the Pacific Ocean, with oceanside bluffs where kite enthusiasts, paragliders, sailboarders and radio-controlled airplane buffs all have room to take advantage of the distinctive landscape. Unfortunately, we never made it down that far, having being distracted by a game of local cricket going on at one of the ovals within the park, where a rather tubby Brian Lara look-a-like was tearing the bowlers apart in front of the quaint old-styled clubhouse and scoreboard. Who ever thought Canadians played cricket!! Well, I guess that's one of the things that makes this such a British city.
Eventually, our stomachs tooks charge of our actions and we met the rest of the group for dinner at The Sticky Wicket pub. You've gotta check out this pub - its enormous, has about 8 different bars in there, generally set out with stylish, plush decor, and dark oak wooden bars and staircases leading up and down the various split levels. The style factor is toned down a tad at one bar called Big Bad John's, which is set up like a hick country/western tavern, but with the charming addition of hundreds of pairs of bras and knickers and panties dangling from the low ceiling!!! (not kidding!!)
Also, they have a rooftop bar with 2 full-size beach volleyball courts!! You can rent them by the hour (for $30) so we planned to do that on the Sunday.
One of the lads, Kiwi Steve, was having his birthday this weekend, so the evening meal and bevvy session was bound to be big. And Steve is a big, big lad, some 6 foot 4 tall and over 100Kg's, so i'm not sure if the word 'big' would be enough to cover it. I was relatively restrained tho, well aware of the massive wads of $$$ leaving my wallet in recent times, but still managed a good night at the 3 bars that made our mini pub-crawl, taking in The Sticky Wicket, The Irish Times (where shots of sambuca and tequila - not together - were the order of the day), and finally Steamers, where Mike caught up with us, and a local Victoria band, Machina, was playing in the background. From memory, I thought they were okay, but their peroxide blonde chick bass guitarist was hot hot hot!
Sunday, after a $5 greasy spoon brekky, served up by a surly, bald-headed-and-goateed-and-built-like-a-brick-outhouse cook, was, despite a collective boozy hangover, time for our beach volleyball mini-tourney. I hadn't played this sport in some years, and was decidedly rusty. Teams were randomly selected, and players traded between teams from time to time, and without keeping strict score, i'd say i ended up on the winning side more often than not. After an hour of pretty intense activity tho, we were all beaten - some by injury, others by fatigue, and the rest by their hangovers! Good fun all round nonetheless.
It was at this point that I parted the ways with the lads and ladettes, and slowly strolled the 20minute walk thru the cute suburb of James' Bay to Mike and Kristin's house to chill out, chat and relax, mere blocks away from the beach I'd never made it to the day before. I'd met Mike in Edinburgh on my 26th birthday pub crawl in 2000, and was now hanging out with him for the 2nd time in a month in 2005!! I love it!! A quiet stroll along that beach, a delicious smoked salmon pasta dinner and a DVD (Team America: World Police - incredibly funny, and highly recommended), then all of a sudden it was time to head back.
Being incredibly tired and lazy, I opted to pay the extra $15 for the comfort of the Greyhound bus and ferry ride back, rather than deal with the hassle of changing 3 times, and knowing that I was getting back at close to Midnight, it was an easy decision to make.
On the journey back, I met a Northern Irish girl and a Glaswegian travelling together - and just hearing the accents pricked my ears, and I had to chat to them. She was well impressed that I picked her accent correctly, commenting that she always gets mistaken for every other accent imaginable in the region- English, Scots, Welsh, Republican Irish. These guys were mad...they were doing Canada in 3 weeks!!! - and had taken in Montreal, Quebec City,Toronto, Banff, Whistler, Vancouver and Victoria in that time!!! They were flying everywhere admittedly, but they were travelling on British Pounds so i guess could afford to.
So another busy rapid-fire weekend thoroughly enjoyed.
talk soon, tony
I was in Victoria over the weekend - a nice city, very pretty, but a little on the sleepy side...but that's okay - nice and relaxing. I went over with a bunch of 8 Aussie and Kiwi friends on satdee morn, and after spending satur-day and night with them, i took Sunday arvo by myself, leaving my mates to do their own thing, and came back late Sunday night after spending the arvo with a buddy of mine, Mike, and his wife Kristin, who live there.
Victoria, with a smallish population of only 300,000, is on Vancouver Island and is British Columbia's capital city. Despite being only 100Km's away, it takes about 3 1/2 hours to get there, involving a cumbersome bus, ferry, bus transfer. it's all worth it tho, the ferry ride thru the Gulf Islands being especially pretty. I was hoping to catch a peek of the Orca whale pods that play in these waters this time of year, but alas, we had no luck.
The city itself is famed for being Canada's most 'British' city, with a lot its architecture and streetscapes trying to somewhat recreate an Olde English feel. The Parliament Buildings, built in 1893 by a 25 year old architect, in a Gothic style with the pale grey granite stone block structure with dome-topped turret towers and cuppola-roof, set on immaculately groomed lawn and gardens is most successful in this regard. Its setting right on the foreshore marina just adds an extra element of beauty to the scene.
Just a few minutes walk along the marina, the epic-sized 5-star Empress Hotel, with its groomed hedges and creeping vine covered exterior is another fine example of the refined British syle of this city. At any rate, it makes for a pleasant, quiet and leisurely stroll.
Our group had split up and gone in various directions, and I was hanging with Robbo and Jen as we casually took in the city, before heading off to Beacon Hill Park to throw the frisbee around for a while.
The interior of the park, with its Victorian landscape of manicured flowerbeds, graceful trees and lakes and bridged streams, has a life all its own, as do its local fauna residents, especially it seems the goats. Jen had gone off for a walk and spotted a flock of goats in the park, and came back to us, all excitedly wanting to tell us about these goats who could talk, and said 'yee-aaa-hhhhhh' with cheeky grins all the time. But these talking goats also have mystical invisibility powers too apparently, as we could not see them when she took us to the spot. I've gotta say, I have NO idea what kind of flowers she was sniffing in the park. At the very southern end of the park, there is an open vista over the beach, and across the Strait of Juan De Fuca, leading out to the open waters of the Pacific Ocean, with oceanside bluffs where kite enthusiasts, paragliders, sailboarders and radio-controlled airplane buffs all have room to take advantage of the distinctive landscape. Unfortunately, we never made it down that far, having being distracted by a game of local cricket going on at one of the ovals within the park, where a rather tubby Brian Lara look-a-like was tearing the bowlers apart in front of the quaint old-styled clubhouse and scoreboard. Who ever thought Canadians played cricket!! Well, I guess that's one of the things that makes this such a British city.
Eventually, our stomachs tooks charge of our actions and we met the rest of the group for dinner at The Sticky Wicket pub. You've gotta check out this pub - its enormous, has about 8 different bars in there, generally set out with stylish, plush decor, and dark oak wooden bars and staircases leading up and down the various split levels. The style factor is toned down a tad at one bar called Big Bad John's, which is set up like a hick country/western tavern, but with the charming addition of hundreds of pairs of bras and knickers and panties dangling from the low ceiling!!! (not kidding!!)
Also, they have a rooftop bar with 2 full-size beach volleyball courts!! You can rent them by the hour (for $30) so we planned to do that on the Sunday.
One of the lads, Kiwi Steve, was having his birthday this weekend, so the evening meal and bevvy session was bound to be big. And Steve is a big, big lad, some 6 foot 4 tall and over 100Kg's, so i'm not sure if the word 'big' would be enough to cover it. I was relatively restrained tho, well aware of the massive wads of $$$ leaving my wallet in recent times, but still managed a good night at the 3 bars that made our mini pub-crawl, taking in The Sticky Wicket, The Irish Times (where shots of sambuca and tequila - not together - were the order of the day), and finally Steamers, where Mike caught up with us, and a local Victoria band, Machina, was playing in the background. From memory, I thought they were okay, but their peroxide blonde chick bass guitarist was hot hot hot!
Sunday, after a $5 greasy spoon brekky, served up by a surly, bald-headed-and-goateed-and-built-like-a-brick-outhouse cook, was, despite a collective boozy hangover, time for our beach volleyball mini-tourney. I hadn't played this sport in some years, and was decidedly rusty. Teams were randomly selected, and players traded between teams from time to time, and without keeping strict score, i'd say i ended up on the winning side more often than not. After an hour of pretty intense activity tho, we were all beaten - some by injury, others by fatigue, and the rest by their hangovers! Good fun all round nonetheless.
It was at this point that I parted the ways with the lads and ladettes, and slowly strolled the 20minute walk thru the cute suburb of James' Bay to Mike and Kristin's house to chill out, chat and relax, mere blocks away from the beach I'd never made it to the day before. I'd met Mike in Edinburgh on my 26th birthday pub crawl in 2000, and was now hanging out with him for the 2nd time in a month in 2005!! I love it!! A quiet stroll along that beach, a delicious smoked salmon pasta dinner and a DVD (Team America: World Police - incredibly funny, and highly recommended), then all of a sudden it was time to head back.
Being incredibly tired and lazy, I opted to pay the extra $15 for the comfort of the Greyhound bus and ferry ride back, rather than deal with the hassle of changing 3 times, and knowing that I was getting back at close to Midnight, it was an easy decision to make.
On the journey back, I met a Northern Irish girl and a Glaswegian travelling together - and just hearing the accents pricked my ears, and I had to chat to them. She was well impressed that I picked her accent correctly, commenting that she always gets mistaken for every other accent imaginable in the region- English, Scots, Welsh, Republican Irish. These guys were mad...they were doing Canada in 3 weeks!!! - and had taken in Montreal, Quebec City,Toronto, Banff, Whistler, Vancouver and Victoria in that time!!! They were flying everywhere admittedly, but they were travelling on British Pounds so i guess could afford to.
So another busy rapid-fire weekend thoroughly enjoyed.
talk soon, tony
Monday, May 30, 2005
2nd job - soul destroying but worth it
G'day,
I've bitten the bullet, taken a deep breath and taken the plunge. i've got me a 2nd job. I need the money.
I've taken on probably one of the most soul destroying-make you feel like a piece of doggy-doo jobs on the planet tho. I'm a market researcher. I do telephone surveys. I'm the guy who calls you at dinner time to bug you about your opinion on any lame arse topic that some even more lame-arse company thinks is necessary.
To paraphrase one one my friends, Brenda, yes - "I'm one of THEM!"
At the moment we're ringing people and asking them their opinion on the state of and quality of public transportation in Vancouver. "On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the frequency of service of bus number X" on repeat about a million timed per survey on every little nuance of PT you could think of... I've been doing this for about 3 weeks now, and I couldn't tell you how many times I've been hung up on at the point, "Hi, my name is Tony, I'm calling from Synovate, a professional research company in Vancouver..." BEEP, BEEP BEEP.
Our target is an average 1.15 surveys per hour, and each one takes about 10-15 minutes. Not very high, but I'm lucky to get anywhere near this. Think about it. If I do get the one (and a bit) required surveys every hour, I then spend the next 45-50 minutes having the phone hung up in my ear, getting abused (get a life, mate!), or listening to increasingly weird answer machine messages. All for the princely sum of $8.50 per hour....before tax. THIS AIN'T FUN!
I've been doing this for a month or so now, but thankfully, i'm only on for three 4 hour shifts per week - any more than that and i'd go even more stir crazy than I already am.
But, it will all be worth it come September when I'm loafing about California in the sun, and about $1200 richer than I would be otherwise.
Talk Soon,
Tony
I've bitten the bullet, taken a deep breath and taken the plunge. i've got me a 2nd job. I need the money.
I've taken on probably one of the most soul destroying-make you feel like a piece of doggy-doo jobs on the planet tho. I'm a market researcher. I do telephone surveys. I'm the guy who calls you at dinner time to bug you about your opinion on any lame arse topic that some even more lame-arse company thinks is necessary.
To paraphrase one one my friends, Brenda, yes - "I'm one of THEM!"
At the moment we're ringing people and asking them their opinion on the state of and quality of public transportation in Vancouver. "On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the frequency of service of bus number X" on repeat about a million timed per survey on every little nuance of PT you could think of... I've been doing this for about 3 weeks now, and I couldn't tell you how many times I've been hung up on at the point, "Hi, my name is Tony, I'm calling from Synovate, a professional research company in Vancouver..." BEEP, BEEP BEEP.
Our target is an average 1.15 surveys per hour, and each one takes about 10-15 minutes. Not very high, but I'm lucky to get anywhere near this. Think about it. If I do get the one (and a bit) required surveys every hour, I then spend the next 45-50 minutes having the phone hung up in my ear, getting abused (get a life, mate!), or listening to increasingly weird answer machine messages. All for the princely sum of $8.50 per hour....before tax. THIS AIN'T FUN!
I've been doing this for a month or so now, but thankfully, i'm only on for three 4 hour shifts per week - any more than that and i'd go even more stir crazy than I already am.
But, it will all be worth it come September when I'm loafing about California in the sun, and about $1200 richer than I would be otherwise.
Talk Soon,
Tony
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Pictorial - Vancouver Bike Activists Scene in all its Colour and Glory
Critical Mass celebrates cycling on Burrard Bridge, Vancouver, May 2005
I am cyclist, hear me roar!
Tall Bike madness!
My bike is my art...
Critical Mass is fun!!
say hello to Margarita - that's the bikes name...
getting the kids involved nice and young...
Ahoy, me matey's...it was a Pirate themed ride after all...
Lisa, Leslie and I in Grandview Park, post ride...
Corking the Tai Chi collective...
Critical Mass artwork at the Pedal Play workshop...
Pedal Play workshop...
Friday, May 27, 2005
rockin road trip in the rockies...Day 5 and 6
hey,
It's funny that we had spent 3 days within relative spitting range of Banff, but we had not yet managed to spend any time in the township.
1/2 a day was devoted to checking this place out. Above all else, this town has the most amazing main street backdrop...ever! Banff Avenue is your typical small country town main street, loaded with touristy souvenir shops, cafes and restaurants, but at the Northern end of the street lies the stupendously imposing Cascade Mountain, sitting virtually right on top of the town. Clocking in at 2998metres high, the formidable looking mountain has a presence like no other.
At the other end of town is the 2285metre high Suplhur Mountain, which you can pay an extortionate $22.50 to ride a 13-minute long gondola journey to the top, where a 360-degree observation deck gives a pretty darn spectacular all-round view of the Mountains.
Banff Gondola to Sulphur Mountain
The gondola-fare doesn't seem nearly so extortionate once you get up there tho lemme tell you! I was loving it up there, even when the clouds did swiftly come in and obscure the views, and dump a brisk 20minute show shower on us all. Not every one was enjoying it so smuch, especially the vertigo-suffering Paul, altho full credit to him for facing his fears in the past few days, riding gondolas up to Sunshine and here, even when we tried to stir him up by rocking the carriage back and forth! "Don't....i'll f-ing hit ya, either that or i'll throw up on ya!" I think we were more put back in our place by the thought of vomit than threats of violence, so we contained ourselves.
Cascade Mountain and the Rockies overlooking Banff Township
Calgary is barely a 90minute drive from Banff. It didn't make sense not to visit it, even for a few hours. Aside from that, a good buddy of mine from my bar-tending in Edinburgh days, Tricia, lived there. I'd been trying to get in touch with her ever since I'd arrived in Vancouver, and was lucky enough to finally reconnect with her just the week before we headed out on the road. We finally met her that afternoon, and she played tour guide for us for the duration. By her own admission, there isn't a whole lot to do in Calgary, and was struggling to think of places for us to see and things to do. Admittedly she was restricted somewhat by the fact that we were now very poor and very tired, and we only had a few hours. Calgary Tower, 190metres tall (762 steps if you don't take the lift - our leg-weary bodies insisted we take the lift), and another vertigo inducing height for Paul, gave us an overview of the oil-rich skyscrapers of the city, the Saddledome hockey stadium, Calgary Stampede venue, and the sprawling, sprawling, sprawling suburbs. Downtown Calgary is a cluster of modern architecture - mirrored glass and polished granite facades and are a self-evident monument to oil money - everything is sleek and brand new, and as far as cities go, relatively easy on the eye.
Downtown Calgary
A short walk around the gardens of the oasis-in-the-city, Prince's Island, with very pretty ground-level views of the city skyline, and then it was "lets hit the pub for a drink and meal". A couple of pints and darn-good pub grub at The Ship and Anchor, a down-to-earth, dimly lit bar, and then we were off. And that was it, that was Calgary.
Downtown Calgary from Prince's Island
Calgary's Saddledome and Stampede site
While in the pub tho, Tricia told us about one of the bizarre vagaries of Calgary City is the by-law forbidding smoking in beer gardens! True! There were people inside the bar smoking, but none in the beer garden. Apparently in the peak of summer, when the beer garden is chock full of people, smokers either step inside for a smoke, or climb over the fence to the footpath outside for their fags. Quite strange, especially considering most places in the world, particularly in Ireland, are forcing smokers outside, banning it indoors for health reasons.
It was great to catch up with Trish again (thank you Trish!!!), altho it was hardly long enough - just enough time for a quick chat really. I love it when i get together with folk that i'd met earlier in my travelling life, in a completely different part of the world, especially if its in their home town. So here's an open invitation to all of you - if yer ever in Melbourne when I'm there, feel free to look me up, and i'll set you up on my lounge or spare room.
Back in Canmore, even tho it was our last night on the road before the long drive back to Vancouver, I stayed in and called it an early night. The lads tho, once again fuelled by a bottle of Jameson's even before leaving the motel, hit the town again. I could simply never keep up, and besides, that's at least $100 (or more) still in my pocket.
Elk grazing by the Bow River Parkway
Day 6. Our final day. Its a long drive, better get an early start. Aye right! As if. It was almost 9am Alberta time by the time we left, and 14 hours later we were finally, finally, finally, back in Vancouver. We opted to take the scenic, alternative route back, rather than retrace out steps on the Trans-Canada Highway #1, and turned left at Salmon Arm to head south thru the Okanagan Valley, via Kelowna and Penticton.
What a change in scenery from the Rockies! From soaring majestic mountains to semi-arid desert, prime fruit-growing orchard territory in the space of a cuppla hundred kilometres. If time and money permitted, we would have stopped loads of times long the way. As it was, petrol, lunch and toilet breaks were the only stops, and these were at some of the most peculiar small towns such as Enderby, where the local mini-mart reeked rather badly of Dr. Pepper cherry cola.
Kelowna and Penticton are famed for being nearby more-than-decent ski-fields and hiking territory, but we saw none of that, but the towns themselves seemes rather less-than-inspiring. Or maybe it was just that we were pretty tired and slightly grumpy, and in the mood for bagging everything in sight. If I'd had the chance, I'd revisit later this year for a new, fresh perspective.
Mount Baker in Washington State, USA. View from Langley, BC.
By 6pm, and with still some 300Km to go, we were going stir-crazy in the car. Manning Provincial Park provided some scenic respite, having left the stark Okanagan Valley, and back into the hills, this time the Coast Mountains that end in Canada with Vancouver's backdrop of Grouse, Seymour and Cypress Mountains, then continue down into Washington State in the US.
When I was finally dropped off home at 10pm, I was more than happy to be out of the car. It was a great road trip, amazing scenery and amazing memories, but the last 1/2 a day was a killer.
Okay, that's it.
Talk soon,
Tony
It's funny that we had spent 3 days within relative spitting range of Banff, but we had not yet managed to spend any time in the township.
1/2 a day was devoted to checking this place out. Above all else, this town has the most amazing main street backdrop...ever! Banff Avenue is your typical small country town main street, loaded with touristy souvenir shops, cafes and restaurants, but at the Northern end of the street lies the stupendously imposing Cascade Mountain, sitting virtually right on top of the town. Clocking in at 2998metres high, the formidable looking mountain has a presence like no other.
At the other end of town is the 2285metre high Suplhur Mountain, which you can pay an extortionate $22.50 to ride a 13-minute long gondola journey to the top, where a 360-degree observation deck gives a pretty darn spectacular all-round view of the Mountains.
Banff Gondola to Sulphur Mountain
The gondola-fare doesn't seem nearly so extortionate once you get up there tho lemme tell you! I was loving it up there, even when the clouds did swiftly come in and obscure the views, and dump a brisk 20minute show shower on us all. Not every one was enjoying it so smuch, especially the vertigo-suffering Paul, altho full credit to him for facing his fears in the past few days, riding gondolas up to Sunshine and here, even when we tried to stir him up by rocking the carriage back and forth! "Don't....i'll f-ing hit ya, either that or i'll throw up on ya!" I think we were more put back in our place by the thought of vomit than threats of violence, so we contained ourselves.
Cascade Mountain and the Rockies overlooking Banff Township
Calgary is barely a 90minute drive from Banff. It didn't make sense not to visit it, even for a few hours. Aside from that, a good buddy of mine from my bar-tending in Edinburgh days, Tricia, lived there. I'd been trying to get in touch with her ever since I'd arrived in Vancouver, and was lucky enough to finally reconnect with her just the week before we headed out on the road. We finally met her that afternoon, and she played tour guide for us for the duration. By her own admission, there isn't a whole lot to do in Calgary, and was struggling to think of places for us to see and things to do. Admittedly she was restricted somewhat by the fact that we were now very poor and very tired, and we only had a few hours. Calgary Tower, 190metres tall (762 steps if you don't take the lift - our leg-weary bodies insisted we take the lift), and another vertigo inducing height for Paul, gave us an overview of the oil-rich skyscrapers of the city, the Saddledome hockey stadium, Calgary Stampede venue, and the sprawling, sprawling, sprawling suburbs. Downtown Calgary is a cluster of modern architecture - mirrored glass and polished granite facades and are a self-evident monument to oil money - everything is sleek and brand new, and as far as cities go, relatively easy on the eye.
Downtown Calgary
A short walk around the gardens of the oasis-in-the-city, Prince's Island, with very pretty ground-level views of the city skyline, and then it was "lets hit the pub for a drink and meal". A couple of pints and darn-good pub grub at The Ship and Anchor, a down-to-earth, dimly lit bar, and then we were off. And that was it, that was Calgary.
Downtown Calgary from Prince's Island
Calgary's Saddledome and Stampede site
While in the pub tho, Tricia told us about one of the bizarre vagaries of Calgary City is the by-law forbidding smoking in beer gardens! True! There were people inside the bar smoking, but none in the beer garden. Apparently in the peak of summer, when the beer garden is chock full of people, smokers either step inside for a smoke, or climb over the fence to the footpath outside for their fags. Quite strange, especially considering most places in the world, particularly in Ireland, are forcing smokers outside, banning it indoors for health reasons.
It was great to catch up with Trish again (thank you Trish!!!), altho it was hardly long enough - just enough time for a quick chat really. I love it when i get together with folk that i'd met earlier in my travelling life, in a completely different part of the world, especially if its in their home town. So here's an open invitation to all of you - if yer ever in Melbourne when I'm there, feel free to look me up, and i'll set you up on my lounge or spare room.
Back in Canmore, even tho it was our last night on the road before the long drive back to Vancouver, I stayed in and called it an early night. The lads tho, once again fuelled by a bottle of Jameson's even before leaving the motel, hit the town again. I could simply never keep up, and besides, that's at least $100 (or more) still in my pocket.
Elk grazing by the Bow River Parkway
Day 6. Our final day. Its a long drive, better get an early start. Aye right! As if. It was almost 9am Alberta time by the time we left, and 14 hours later we were finally, finally, finally, back in Vancouver. We opted to take the scenic, alternative route back, rather than retrace out steps on the Trans-Canada Highway #1, and turned left at Salmon Arm to head south thru the Okanagan Valley, via Kelowna and Penticton.
What a change in scenery from the Rockies! From soaring majestic mountains to semi-arid desert, prime fruit-growing orchard territory in the space of a cuppla hundred kilometres. If time and money permitted, we would have stopped loads of times long the way. As it was, petrol, lunch and toilet breaks were the only stops, and these were at some of the most peculiar small towns such as Enderby, where the local mini-mart reeked rather badly of Dr. Pepper cherry cola.
Kelowna and Penticton are famed for being nearby more-than-decent ski-fields and hiking territory, but we saw none of that, but the towns themselves seemes rather less-than-inspiring. Or maybe it was just that we were pretty tired and slightly grumpy, and in the mood for bagging everything in sight. If I'd had the chance, I'd revisit later this year for a new, fresh perspective.
Mount Baker in Washington State, USA. View from Langley, BC.
By 6pm, and with still some 300Km to go, we were going stir-crazy in the car. Manning Provincial Park provided some scenic respite, having left the stark Okanagan Valley, and back into the hills, this time the Coast Mountains that end in Canada with Vancouver's backdrop of Grouse, Seymour and Cypress Mountains, then continue down into Washington State in the US.
When I was finally dropped off home at 10pm, I was more than happy to be out of the car. It was a great road trip, amazing scenery and amazing memories, but the last 1/2 a day was a killer.
Okay, that's it.
Talk soon,
Tony
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